by Don Stevens

Summer is coming to an end and harvest time is upon us. This is the time of year that Abenaki people join together in celebrations. We offer thanks to the creator and mother earth for the bountiful crops they have provided all summer long.

The three sisters (beans, corn, and squash) have blossomed from their dazzling flowers to mature young ladies who have now ripened with age. The corn has grown tall to allow the beans to climb her sturdy stock. The squash has protected them both by standing guard with her prickly stems to ward off creatures who would eat them. The sacred tobacco plants have also matured from the pretty yellow bell flowers of spring. Her seed pods now safely cradle her hundreds of unborn young waiting just inside her womb to be set free.

Now is a spiritual time for native people to remember the importance of why tobacco and corn are so important to our people. We give thanks to our first mother who sacrificed herself so that we would have these gifts of food and offerings. For those of you who do not know the story about how corn and tobacco came to be, I would like to share this story with you.
In a time long ago, our first mother was not able to provide for her children. She went to the creator and asked for help. In our culture, you cannot get something without giving something in return. The creator asked, "What will you give in return for this help you seek?" Our first mother replied that she had nothing to give. However, her love was so strong for her children she offered herself as a sacrifice so that her children may live. The creator agreed that this was an acceptable gift and she gave her life to the creator.

The first father took her body and buried her in the field and wept over her grave for three days and nights until his children came and brought him home. When he returned the next day, he noticed that corn and tobacco was growing in the very spot that he buried his wife three days before. He then heard his wife's voice. "Take heart my husband for I live on. This gift of corn will forever feed our children for all time. Our children shall remember the sacrifice that was made for them. So that they always remember their mother and this sacrifice of love, my golden blond hair will grow from the ears of corn. When it is ready to eat, my hair will turn black so they will always remember my love for them."

"So that another person will never have to give their life for their children ever again, I also give the gift of tobacco. This tobacco will be used as offerings to the creator as a gift for answering our children's prayers."

This is why tobacco is sacred to us and is used in our prayers to the creator. Whenever we have an important gathering, we use the tobacco in our pipes to send our prayers to the creator. We know that who ever smokes the pipe will speak only the truth. To do otherwise would be sacrilegious and dishonor our first mothers sacrifice. We also believe that when tobacco is used as a recreational drug, it causes cancer. It is not being used in the spirit in which it was given.

This is also why corn is a staple food in Native American diets throughout the world. The next time you pick up an ear of corn at the market, please touch the black hair of our first mother. Remember her sacrifice so we shall never go hungry again.